Evasions
by Chelleh
Summary: When a couple of drifters pass through Radiator Springs, Sally is forced to face a part of her past she thought she had abandoned. Which may have deadly consequences.
1. Bathmophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Summary:** When a couple of drifters pass through Radiator Springs, Sally is forced to face a part of her past she thought she had abandoned. How exactly will the town handle the secret that she's been concealing for so long?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Cars and this story is simply for entertainment values.

* * *

As I look at Flo, Ramone, Luigi, and Guido conversing over by Casa Della Tires, a feeling of guilt washes over me. They deserve to know. Everybody in the town of Radiator Springs deserves to know. They deserve to understand the reason that they've never seen any of my childhood or teenage pictures. To understand the reason why I'm always interested in listening to their stories of their pasts, but I'm never eager to share mine. They deserve that much after all they've done for me. And I deserve to get this off of my fender.

"Howdy there, Miz Salleh!" The familiar voice of the one and only Tow Mater breaks through my cloud of thoughts. "What'cha up to this fine afternoon?"

"Oh…nothing, really. Just thinking." I reply, still in a dream-like state.

"About Lightnin'?" He says in a 'somebody's-in-love' tone while giving me a wink.

"No!" Truth be-told, the remark caught me a little off-guard. "What makes you think that I would be thinking about him?"

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe the fact that you two are in looove!" He adds extra emphasis to 'love'. "Sally and Lightnin' parked 'neath a tree! K, I, S, S… somethin' somethin' T!" He sings as he sways down the road to Willy's Butte, where Stickers just happened to be practicing. Not trusting the rusty tow-truck's ability to keep his mouth shut, I revved up and followed him.

On the short drive to Willy's Butte, I began to think again. This time, it really was about Lightning.

_He deserves to know. But what will he say? Will he be angry? Shocked? We aren't even together, so will he get creeped out about me sharing something personal with him? Or maybe…_

"Oomph!" Having been caught up in my thoughts, I didn't exactly see the drop-off into Willy's Butte. As I barrel down the steep hill, wincing through the dry shrubs and cacti, I faintly hear, "Dad-gum! That girl must'a been thinkin' again! She really ought not to do that so much!" I slam on my breaks, hoping they would stop me from tearing down the dirt ridge. They didn't. Instead, I received a shock of pain flowing through my frame as my brakes moaned and screeched. I opened my eyes, hoping to have come to the end of my painful journey, but instead found my front tire colliding with a rather large boulder, sending me tumbling down the remainder of the hill. My frame clanged with every bounce before I finally landed with a 'thud!' at the bottom, thankfully upright and on my tires.

I heard the engine of a racecar get closer. "Whoa, Sal, you ok?!" Came the smooth voice of the car who had originally invaded my mind and sent me over the butte's edge. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just sheepishly smiled.

"Nice entrance. You gonna live, or do I need to take you back to the clinic?" Doc's raspy voice asked. Wait, was that a trace of annoyance I heard?

_Hello, buddy, I just rolled down a cliff. Some sense of you actually caring would be nice. _

"I'll be fine." I managed to cough out.

_No, I certainly would NOT be fine. My frame ached with searing pain, and I was almost certain that I had totaled my brakes. _

But they didn't need to know that. Doc and Stickers had enough to worry about with the upcoming season. They didn't need my problems on top of it all. "Just have Mater get me back to the main road, will ya?" I asked as Mater happily hooked my back bumper and drug me out of the butte. Knowing that the three were still watching me, I gracefully glided off toward town. When I got out of sight, I let out a moan of pain as my tires sank. I slithered the rest of the way to Flo's V8 Café.

"Ooh, honey, what in the world happened to you?!" Came the motherly voice of Flo. Her green eyes were scanning over my injuries.

"It's a long and embarrassing story…" I started to say, but then realized that this was Flo who I was talking to. Somebody who _would_ care. "Well, I've had a lot on my mind lately," I swear she perked up when I said that, "uh…and I kind of thought myself over the drop-off at Willy's Butte." I really hoped that she didn't want to know exactly what was on my mind. Luckily, I think she sensed that.

"Well are you going to be alright? Do you need to get to Doc's?"

"No, no, I'll be fine." She wasn't buying it.

"Sally, I'm old. I'm wise. I know when you little teenies are lying. Tell me the truth. Are you okay?" She gave me a knowing look.

"No. No, I'm not okay. My brakes are totaled and I feel as if I've just finished a round with Mike Chryson. My hood aches, my fender is in agony. And I really just need to go take a nap. Please, don't tell anybody. They have enough on their minds with all of the customers that the new museum's brought, and not to mention Lightning's upcoming season. I promise I'll be fine." I pleadingly looked into her eyes, hoping that she'd understand.

"Fine. But if your not feeling one hundred percent in a week, I'm doing something about it. Oil's on the house." She said, handing me a can of her blended oil.

Little did I know, my little crash would soon become the least of my worries.

* * *

_**Bathmophobia- Fear of steep slopes**_


	2. Xenophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Disclaimer:** I own a lot of things. Sadly, Cars is not one of them.

**Thanks to my reviewers! Yeah, I deleted this story awhile ago because I had no idea where to go with it. But this time the entire story's already finished, so I promise it won't be left hanging :) Oh, and I think I change tenses in this chapter.. I've never been good with those.. so I'm sorry if this one seems to be in a different tense. **

**Before we get on with the story, I need to introduce two new characters:**

**Zanien (Zay-nin) aka Firestreak**

_Age:_ 32  
_Car:_ 1969 Z-28 Camaro  
_Color:_ Black with a thick, red strip running up his side alongside a thin orange one. Orange neon underside lights (Like the DHR has)  
_Distinctive features_: Large 'scar' on his right door from when a dent was improperly fixed. I can't tell you where it's from, that would ruin the secret. But you'll understand shortly.  
_Eye Color_: Grey/silver.  
_Personality_: Cocky, sly, knows how to get what he wants. Goes where he wants, does what he wants. Can be perverted at times.

**Selmer aka Slingshot**

_Age_: 25  
_Car:_ Mustang Cobra SVT  
_Color_: Lime green with neon blue spray-painted 'Slingshot' on the side. Neon blue rear-view mirror lights as well as underside lights.  
_Distinctive features_: Missing his front tooth.  
_Eye color_: Dark brown, almost black  
_Personality_: Follower. Very wild, almost psychotic. Hyperactive, Semi-perverted. He's Zanien's lacky.

* * *

I fluttered my eyes open, only to shut them quickly due to the sun shining through my cone window. Groaning, I glanced over at the clock. 8:28am. Since this is usually the time I wake up, I began to stroll out into the crisp morning air. Right as my tires began to inch forward, I remembered my little brush with death the day before. I winced at the pain that surged through my frame. I hit my brakes, and to my relief, they worked! For a minute I thought I was going to need some serious repairing. I decided to sit there for a little while before sucking it up and crawling out of my cone. After I got going, it didn't hurt quite as bad as before.

"'I'm fine' my bumper" I heard the teasing voice of the red racecar who'd been causing my mind to flip-flop for the past couple weeks. "You sure don't look fine to me."

"Hehe, yeah. I should've known I was going to feel it in the morning. What are you doing up so early?" Hopefully he wouldn't question the change of subject.

"I hit the hay pretty early last night. I've only been up for a couple of minutes." He looked right into my eyes as he said that. Gosh, why am I thinking like this? Why do I care if he's looking into my eyes, or at my tattoo, or anything else on me for that matter? Not too long ago, I despised him!

"…with the new season coming up and all, y'know?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was kind of lost in thought…" I trailed off, not wanting to make myself seem like an idiot. Well gee, Sally, I think you've already done a pretty good job of that by completely ignoring him!

"I guess Mater was right," He joked, giving me a wink.

"Yeah, for once," I smiled back.

"Hey, do you think that you'd wanna…"

_Have your kids?! YES! Wait.. what?!_

He didn't get to finish, because a huge windstorm swept right by us. If they'd not been so close to us, I would've never suspected the windstorm to be two cars, blazing into town.

"I don't think you're the fastest thing on four wheels anymore, Stickers" I said in a monotone voice as I sped into town.

"…now look here, boys, this is a highly respectable town. The residents here don't need your little delinquent ways screwing everything up." The sheriff preached to the two street cars. I couldn't see them from very far away, but they reminded me a lot of the Delinquent Road Hazards, as Sheriff likes to call them.

"Eh, pops, we were jus havin a little fun!" The bright green one said.

"Shove it! I'm doing the talking you!" The other scolded. Wait, I know those voices. I grew up around those voices… no, it can't be! The toughest L.A. street racer, Firestreak, and his hyperactive, extremely creepy, infested-with-rabies lackey, Slingshot, were the last things I wanted to see. Especially when all I've been thinking about lately was them and the life that I had left. Would they even remember me? I didn't want to find out! I took a sharp turn to the right and was about to speed off when I heard Doc.

"Where do you think you're going? Court for these two barbarians starts in two hours! C'mere, Sally!" Oh great. I slowly rolled over to the four as Slingshot eyed me suspiciously.

"Hey, hey, Zanien, look't!" He snapped, nodding towards me.

"Quiet!" Sheriff barked.

"All right, Sally, we're going to attach the boots, and then you need to question them."

_Question them? What were they due for, a murder trial? _

"Sure, Doc."

-vvvvvv-

"Okay, boys, about how fast do you think you were going?" I really wish they would stop eyeing me.

"Eh, I don't know sweet cheeks. Pro'lly about eighty, ninety." Zanien replied.

"Yeah? Well I have you down for a hundred and twenty miles an hour." I gave him a stern look.

"Really?! One twenty?! Damnnn, Zanien, we's good! Yeahh!" Selmer bounced up and down. I suddenly had the strange urge to smack him with something.

"Can it, oil breath!" He hasn't changed.

"Ok, so do you boys have anything to say…" I trailed off. They were looking me up and down. I was busted.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little miss Indigone. This where you been all this time? This dump of a town?" Zanien said, smirking.

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." I really don't know why I said that. I already knew I was caught.

"Damnnn, girl, L.A. racin' just ain't been the same without ya! Why'd ya leave?" It was then I realized that Selmer really did have oil breath.

"How'd you figure out? I don't look anything like I used to!" I sighed.

"Yeah, doll, but your voice hasn't changed one bit. And I've known you for... how long now? fourteen years?" Zanien's sweeter side was showing. It was true; I had known him for a very long time. I didn't exactly grow up on the right side of the tracks, and my parents didn't exactly care what I did. Sure, they loved me, but I think that they loved themselves just a bit more. Around the age of ten, I started going with my older brother, Steve, to street races. I became the only female Porsche to race about 4 years after that. I changed my paint job to a dark indigo, with bright purple and black flames, and went by the name of Indigone. Steve was killed shortly after in a gang fight, so Firestreak and Slingshot, better known by me as Zanien and Selmer, brought me up. Well, they didn't bring me up. They just made sure that I got to and from school, and that I kicked everybody's bumper in the races. I eventually stopped racing and went to law school. At age twenty, I told them that I needed to get away for a while. Awhile turned out to be four years. Now I have to worry about everyone in Radiator Springs finding out about the one thing I've worked so hard to hide.

"Look, just go to traffic court, get your punishment, and we'll talk about this later, okay? And please, keep your mouth shut about it all. Got it?" I said, giving them a glare.

"Yepp, you's haven't changed one damn bit!"

I had Mater take them to the impound while I went for a short drive. Just to clear my mind. A lot had happened in the past couple hours.

* * *

_**Xenophobia- Fear of foreigners**_

_For Foreignconcepts_:

Aichmophobia- fear of needles/pointed objects  
Batonophobia- fear of plants.  
I couldn't find a specific one for cacti.


	3. Onomatophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Disclaimer:** Cars is owned by Pixar. This story isn't intended for anything other than fanfictional entertainment.

**Thank you so much to all of my reviewers. And a special thanks to Twilit Violet for bringing a mistake to my attention. It's fixed now :)**

* * *

I was about to go for a small drive, to clear my head, when Doc called over to me,

"Sally! Where are you going? You're needed in the courthouse in ten minutes!"

I turned around and plastered on a fake smile, "Of course! I'll head over there right now!". I slowly made my way over to the town courthouse, the eyes of Zanien and Selmer following me the whole way.

_Wow, this place brings back memories._ I hadn't been inside the courthouse since Lightning's destruction of the town. As I entered, I saw that some of the other town residents were already in there, waiting for the trial to begin. Amung them, was a bright red racecar. I took my place and waited for court to begin. After the opening statements, came the verdict.

"You two are being charged with reckless driving at speeds of one hundred and twenty miles per hour. How do you plead?" Doc's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Guilty, but we..." Zanien started, but was cut off by Doc slamming the gavel with his tire

"That's enough, you two are assigned twenty days of community service. Court dismissed".

_And they needed me here because...?_

Everyone started rolling out of the courthouse. The sherriff led the two street racers over to the side and explained to them their activities for the next twenty days. I'm pretty sure he mentioned something about working with Bessie. I saw Zanien perk up at that, and thought of his face once he saw who Bessie really was. I gave a small smile and rolled out of the courthouse. I decided to head over to Flo's for some blended oil and relaxation.

"Hey, honey! How'ya feelin'?" Flo greeted me.

"I'm a little sore, but pretty good. Can I get some blended oil?" A few minutes later my drink came and I wandered over to one of the window tables.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I heard a voice come up behind me. I wasn't expecting it to be Doc, he usually doesn't come up and talk to me unless it's important.

"Yeah, is something... wrong?" He parked across the table from me.

"Those two, Zannen and Selmer.."

"Zanien" I corrected. Probably shouldn't have, he doesn't like it when he's corrected.

"As I was saying, those two mentioned they knew you. Mind explaining?" He gave me a look, and I silently vowed to give Zanien a piece of my mind, knowing full-well that he said he knew me merely to get out of community service.

"Um... yeah, well they're old friends of mine, from when I was young. That's all. Zanien grew up down the street from me, and Selmer was with him a lot."

_Please just believe that and leave!_

"I thought you said you grew up in Beverly Hills. From their records, they were raised in East LA. You can't lie your way out of this one. I want the truth, Miss Carrera."

_Miss Carrera? I didn't know whether to laugh or cower._

"Okay, so maybe I did grow up in East LA, but.. I dont know, I didn't want to give off a bad first impression. So I just said that I grew up in Beverly Hills," I gave him a sheepish look.

"Mhmm.. okay. Well we'll finish this later, Lightning has practice."

_Thank God!_

I took a long drive after that, and when I got back it was about 7 o'clock. It was starting to rain, and I could tell a huge storm was about to blow through. I remembered that my two childhood friends were outside for the night, so I let them stay in cones four and five. Being emotionally exhausted, I drove into my cone and fell asleep soon after, blocking out the storm with my dreams.

-vvvvvv-

An extremely loud noise awoke me at about five in the morning. The storm was even worse, and the sound was probably a tree being struck. Just to make sure it wasn't one of the buildings, and that no fires were starting, I rolled over to the window and glanced out. Rain was pouring down and flooding the street. Trees looked as if they were about to break in the feirce wind. There were no trees or buildings on fire, so I went back into my resting position, hoping to get a little more sleep. I sat there for about three minutes, before giving up on trying to sleep. I decided to go for a drive, even if the weather was horrible. The rain felt soothing, but the wind wasn't very relaxing, so I decided to drive with it instead of against it. As I was driving past Zanien's cone, I noticed the light was on. I was about to go ask him why he was up so early, but then I heard him talking. He was on the phone, most likely with Selmer, since his light was on as well.

_Let the eavesdropping begin._

"Look, man, I dont know where she is. No, I'm not with her. I'm in some town over in... Canada. I think. No, I haven't talked to her. Even if I did know where Sally was, I wouldn't tell you, Deven!"

I froze. Obviously, this was not Selmer. But I'd give anything for it to be. Deven was not somebody I ever wanted to meet up with again. He was my boyfriend from when I lived in LA. Let's just say it didn't work out very long. He was great at first, but after his little sister died, he became extremely obsessive, over protective, and he tried to force himself on me. He would've if it had not been for Zanien.

"Just leave me the hell alone! Call here again and I will personally go down to LA and finish you off, Got it?" There was something in his voice that gave me shivers. He really meant it. But that didn't suprise me. He's come as close to killing someone as possible without actually killing them. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get the details. I pounded my tire against his door.

"Zanien, it's me, Sally. Let me in!" After a second or two, he opened the door.

"How much did you hear?" He sighed.

"Enough. Let me in." He rolled back, letting me in. I gave him a look, one that said 'tell me everything'.

"Alright, well as you know that was Deven. He knows I left, and he thinks it was to go see you. Ever since you left, he's been obsessed with finding you. He hasn't been with any girls, and he threatens to kill any guy that talks about you."

"How did he get the number to call here?!" I was frantic now.

His eyes went wide.

* * *

_**Onomatophobia- Fear of hearing a certain name**_


	4. Zelophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Disclaimer:** Cars is owned by Pixar. This story isn't intended for anything other than fanfictional entertainment.

* * *

I couldn't help it, I started freaking out. "You mean, he knows where you are?!"

"Sally, Sally, just calm down. He must've used some sort of tracker or something."

"Calm down?! He might be coming here! We've got to find that tracker! What did you bring with you?!" I started looking around the cone.

"SAL! You gotta come down. We'll find it and get rid of it before he can track us. I have a pretty good idea of where it is." He took a picture from under the rug. It was of me when I was sixteen or seventeen, him, and Selmer. I had just won my first major championship. It was one of the happiest days of my life. "I betcha anything it's in in this. He put it on his windshield and looked toward the light, so that he could see through it. "Yep, here it is. He somehow got it into the paper. Now we just need to take it somewhere else."

"And fast. Let's go." I honestly didn't care what the weather was like, I was going to get rid of that tracking device. We made our way out of the cone, and sped down the road. We must have been going 110 miles per hour. Nobody would be up, and if they were, the storm was loud enough to drown out the sound our speeding engines. We drove for at least twenty minutes like that, before we got too exhausted. We stuck the picture in a bush.

"Do you think this is good enough?" I asked.

"Hopefully. But if he does come all the way to Radinater Springs..."

"Radiator Springs," I corrected

"Whatever," He rolled his eyes, "Radiator Springs, you have a lot of people who will protect you. Like me, Slingshot, that sherriff, the judge guy, and that little red racecar that you're in love with" He smirked at me.

_How the heck does everybody know that?!_

"Whaaat? I ne..." He cut me off

"You didn't need to say it. I can just tell by the way you gaze at each other."

_I do NOT gaze at Lightning! And who says I need protecting? I can protect myself._

_Maybe._

_Well nobody has the right to think I can't just because I'm a girl. _

"... and since your not listening, maybe we should just head back" He sighed, turned around, and started towards town.

_I really gotta stop doing that..._

-vvvvv-

We pulled back into Radiator Springs at about 7:30am, we went slow on the way home, since the storm had died down to a relaxing drizzle.

"Where in the world have you been?!"

_Dang. I forgot Zanien was due for community service._

"Doc, I can explain. It was early, and Zanien had lost his... fuel cap! So we had to go look for it before he bled to death."

_God, I'm such a bad liar. Please believe me._

"Whatever, just don't let it happen again." He took Zanien off to work, and I decided to go to Flo's.

-vvvvv-

I was at one of the tables, sipping some decaf when Stickers pulls up in front of me.

"Soo.. Sal, why were you with that Zanien guy?"

"Like I said, his fuel..."

"And don't give me any of that fuel crap." He gave me 'the look'.

"Well, I used to know him, and he wanted to go for a drive, to talk about some stuff. I hadn't seen him in awhile so we were just catching up on stuff."

"Oh really?" He raised his windshield wiper.

"Not like that!" I gave him a playful nudge and he smiled at me. We just sat there like that, looking around for a little while.

"So... looks like the wind's picking up again." He broke the silence.

"Yeah... so hows your um.. practice going?"

"Pretty good. You should.. come watch me sometime. If you want to, that is"

_OF COURSE!_

"Yeah, that would be cool. We could possibly go for a drive after... if you want to, that is"

_Did I just say that?!_

"Sounds good. Tomorrow at five, maybe?"

"See you then," I said as he drove away. When he was out of eyesight, I zoomed out of the cafe with a huge smile on my face. I decided to go see how Zanien and Selmer were doing with their community service.

"Dad-gum! Y'all is funner to watch than tha tracturs when I's tippen them!" Mater was laughing at Selmer and Zanien, who had tar all over their faces.

"You idiot! This is all your fault!" Zanien yelled at Selmer, who looked as if he was about to punch Mater.

"Dammnnn son, if this rusty tow truck doesn't shut his trap I'm gonna plaster him to the roadway with this tar!" Selmer yelled.

"Not as easy as it looks, ay boys?" Sheriff smirked as he passed by.

"Yo, Sally, you seen the new girl yet?" Ramone called over.

_New girl?_

"What are you talking about?" I rolled over to him.

"Flo told me to come getcha, we got a potential customer! C'mon, girlie let's go." I followed Ramone, and found Flo, Lizzie, Doc, and Lightning surrounding a light pink 2007 Volkswagen Beetle.

"Hey, Sally, this is Veronica! She's gonna stay here for awhile." Flo exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to California!" Veronica informed her while giving her a sugary smile.. a little too sugary.

_She has the most annoying voice I've ever heard._

_Why is Lightning staring at her like that?! Did our little Cafe conversation mean nothing?!_

"Soooo, you're THE Lightning McQueen, huh? You're much cuter in person!" She giggled while flirtatiously leaning up against him.

_I'm about to plaster _her_ to the road._

"So I've been told," Lightning smiled back.

"So, how about we take a drive? Y'know, you can show me around town?" She batted her eyelashes.

"Uh, yeah, definatly." They started driving away.

_I'll show you right off a cliff._

As they passed me, I could've swore I saw a little smirk plant it's self on her face.

_Girl, please._

"Oh, Sally, did you want to come?" Lightning asked, finally tearing his eyes away from Veronica.

_I'd rather stick pins in my eyes._

"No. I have things I need to do." I said I little harsher than I probably should've. I quickly drove away, but not before hearing Miss Priss.

"What's her deal?"

_You are._

* * *

_**Zelophobia- Fear of Jealousy**_


	5. Cleithrophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Disclaimer:** Cars is owned by Pixar. This story isn't intended for anything other than fanfictional entertainment.

* * *

With Lightning and Veronica; 3rd person

"And this is the Wheel Well! It used to be a full running hotel. I love to come up here to think, the view is breathtaking" Lightning told her as they looked over the stretch of country.

"Wow.. yeahh.." Veronica replied. "Look, I gotta make a quick phone call.. to uh.. check in with my mom. She worries."

"No problem."

Veronica drove over beside the Wheel Well and activated her in-car phone.

**rrrinnggg**

**rrrinnggg**

**rrinn-**

"Yeah?" A thick voice answered

"Hey, it's me. She's here. Haven't seen Zanien, though. Probably will before long," Veronica whispered.

"Does she suspect anything?"

"Don't think so. I can tell she doesn't like me, I think I just 'ran off with her guy'." She chuckled.

"Her guy?" The man seemed angry now.

"Yeah, you may wanna get here pretty fast." Veronica was just the type who loved causing conflict.

"You can bet your ass I will," He diconnected and Veronica drove back over to Lightning, "Ready to go?"

-vvvv-

Sally's POV

"Um, excuse me, Sally?" Veronica slowly rolled into my office.

_Now what?_

"Oh, hey Veronica!" I put on a fake smile.

"Hey, I just wanted to rent a room for tonight"

_And I just wanted to push you off a cliff earlier, but we don't all get what we want, do we?_

"Okay, you can take... cone seven." I replied and gave her the keys.

"Thanks!" Veronica paid for her room and left. Not wanting to sit in my office anymore, I decided to go out to Willy's Butte. Making sure nobody was around, I sped off down the dirt track. It felt so good- having the wind in my face once again. The thrill of racing flooded my senses. I was going faster than I probably should've been, and decided to stop for awhile.

"Wow. Impressive"

_Oh no..._

"Lightning! What are you doing here?" He was NOT supposed to be here!

"I felt like getting a little extra practice time in, is something wrong with that?"

_Wait, was he mad?_

"No, but I do have a little bit of a problem with people spying on me!"

"God, why are you getting so defensive?! I'm sorry, okay?"

"No, Lightning, _I'm_ sorry," I sighed, "I'm just not in the best mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you," I quickly drove away, back towards town. It was starting to get dark, and I was going to head over to talk to Zanien. The wind had picked up again, and the only person out was Red, trying to save his flowers from being blown away. I suddenly heard an engine coming awfully fast toward me, and I spun to see who it was, only to be greeted by them slamming me into a wall.

"Miss me, girlie-girl?" the red 91 Dodge Stealth snarled at me.

_No! _

I tried to scream, only to be slammed again. He whispered in my ear, "Scream and you'll regret it". It sent chills up my spine, and I wanted nothing more to get away from him. I tried to speed away, but he rammed me into the wall, over and over again, until everything faded to black.

-vvvvv-

Pain shot through my hood as I slowly opened my eyes. It was night. Hopefully it was still the same day.

"We finally meet again" The memories suddenly flooded back to me as his voice scratched against my ear drums. My breathing increased as he slowly made his way over to me. "Happy to see me, darling?"

"Wh..what do you want with me?" I almost shuddered at how week and exhausted my voice sounded.

"I think you know what I want. You were a little shy before, I can understand that. But now you're older and... wiser," he looked straight into my eyes, "hopefully you have a better understanding of what's.. best for you." He smiled that sick, twisted smile.

_Best for me? Yeah, that would be you not being here at all._

"Don't worry, hun. I'll wait until you're healed," _Hah. Because then it will be enjoyable for me, right? Pfft._ "But for now, I need you to follow me. I don't trust you not to say anything." He started rolling towards the edge of town. Not wanting to press my luck, I reluctantly crept after him, the pain becoming numb after a while.

"Deven," I swear he smiled when I said his name, "Where are we going?"

"Just a little place I've rented out. Secluded. Dark. Just my kind'a environment."

We drove for a little while longer. Before long we were rolling up to an old, rotted barn.

_God, it looks like something straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_

"Get in and keep quiet. I have a few.. errands to run." His tone suddenly got forceful. I slowly backed into the old barn, thinking of ways to escape. I knew it was impossible with this pain, but thinking about it made me feel a little bit better. He closed and locked the doors before driving away. Before long, I was asleep.

-vvvvv-

_3rd Person;;_

"Sooo, Lightning, tell me about the exciting life of racing. It must be... xhilerating." Veronica shot him a fake smile, pretending to be interested.

"Uhh.. well, it's a career. It's not all fun and games. It's a lot of hard work. But it's never boring." Lightning replied in a monotone voice. Truth is, he was only paying attention to Veronica to make Sally jealous. He'd seen her with that Zanien guy and his competitive nature got the best of him. Luckily for both of them, Sheriff came through the doors, Zanien and Selmer close behind them. They each had boots on their front right tires.

"Since you boys've been good today 'n' got your work done early, I'll treat ya to a cold one."

"Yippee." Selmer's voice dripped with sarcasm. Sheriff didn't seem to notice. He instead went up to the counter and ordered three quarts of oil, while Selmer and Zanien hobbled over to a table. But not before noticing a certain pink car sitting with Lightning.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" Zanien made his way over to Veronica, rage etched across his face. "Did _he_ send you?!" He was inches away from her now.

"Woah, man, take it easy," Lightning defended, highly confused.

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about," Veronica smirked.

"Don't go givin us your _crap_, Ronnie! We know why yer here!" Selmer yelled, "Jus fess up already!"

Veronica only smiled, and Zanien read it like a book. "Where is she?! What did he do to her?!"

"What's going on here?!" Sheriff was not happy. "You boys lookin' for more community service? Because I'll sure give it to ya, don't think I won't!"

"We need to find Sally," Zanien's face was focused on Veronica. "Before it's too late."

"Too late? What are you talking about?!" Lightning was concerned, something that Zanien would've noticed more if he hadn't been so concerned himself.

"Her psycho ex-boyfriend is back; and he only wants one thing."

Lightning read between the lines.

"What are we still doing here? We have to find her! If he lays one tire on her, I swear I'll kill him!" This was something Zanien did notice. He'd bring it up next time Sally tried to convince him that there wasn't something between her and the red racecar. Even Sherriff was a little suprised at the tone Lightning used.

"Well I can't go anywhere until I get this stupid boot off!" Zanien shook his tire.

"Not until I get an explanation." Sheriff's tone was firm and 'official'.

"Oh, for the love of Chrysler! Sally went out with this prick, Deven, before she came to... whatever the hell this town is called. He.. um.. tried to take things too far, and she didn't want that. So after she left, he pretty much went insane trying to find her. When Selmer and I came left home, he must've put a tracking device in this picture that I take everywhere, thinking that I knew where Sally was, and that I was going to visit her. We thought we got rid of it, but he sent in his stupid sister," he shot a look to Veronica, "to see if Sally was here. Now who knows where the hell she is!"

Lightning snapped towards Veronica, "You?! How cou-"

"We don't have time for that right now! Let's go!"

"Over my dead body." Veronica started to roll out of the booth, only to be stopped by Sheriff.

"You're staying right here. I'll make sure of it myself. You guys go. Now." Sheriff took off the tire boots and the three cars bolted through the diner doors.

* * *

_**Cleithrophobia- Fear of being locked in an enclosed place**_


	6. Panophobia

**Evasions**

_**e·va·sion**_

**n. **An act or instance of escaping, avoiding, or shirking something by trickery. 

_evading _**v.** To avoid answering directly 

To elude; escape

**Disclaimer:** Cars is owned by Pixar. This story isn't intended for anything other than fanfictional entertainment.

Okay, this is the last chapter. Thank you to all of my reviewers who've given feedback and made me feel better, even when I didn't feel like I wrote a strong chapter. Your support is extremely important to me. I don't plan to do a sequel, but if anybody else wants to, feel free. Just let me know first :)

And to get something cleared up:

**Dear Ted**- When Lightning said, "If he lays one tire on her, I swear I'll kill him," I didn't mean it as he would literally kill him, it was simply intended to show how angry Lightning was. I, like you, don't believe in murder in any sense, and I'm extremely sorry if I offended you or anybody else :). Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

_Third Person;;_

"Sally! Sally!!" Lightning yelled into the crisp morning air.

"Lightning! Do you want to draw his attention to us? Can it, Hotshot!"

"Yeah?! Well I don't see you doing anything!" Lightning shot back.

Zanien was about to defend himself when he heard the familiar engine of a Dodge Stealth. Lightning realized his suddon silence and gave him a questioning look.

"That's him. Do you hear it?"

Lightning revved up, "Oh yeah."

"Woah, I wanna take him down just as much as you do. But the trick is to sneak up on him. So just chill for a second. Selmer, go search for Sally," he smirked, "Deven's ours." Normally, Selmer would be mad about not getting 'in on the action', but he knew that if Sally were still alive, she'd probably need help fast.

"A'ight. Get 'em good for me!" He drove off, going at least twenty over the speed limit.

Lightning and Zanien slowly made their way over toward the mountains, where the engine noise seemed to be coming from. As it started getting closer, Lightning jestured to an old, rotting barn off the road. They slowly and silently crept up behind and switched off their engines, waiting.

_Sally;;_

I jolted awake as the sound of Deven's engine came closer and closer. I started shaking, terrified. I finally realized how much danger I was truely in. I knew what he was going to do, and that he'd kill me if that was what it meant. I _really_ didn't want to die. My life was going great! And things were finally starting to progress with Lightning. Well.. until that pink Bug came along.

This is not how I wanted my life to end. I did not want to spend my last few moments scared out of my mind. I tried to keep under control, but I couldn't help it. I started sobbing and struggling to breath. My frame convulsed.

I think had a panic attack.

_Lightning;; _

My mind was focused on one thing; getting this.. guy. I had a much beter word for him, but knew that if I let my mind think that way, I'd surely get out of control. I didn't exactly want to go to jail for murder. My heart pounded faster as he got closer. I wanted nothing more than to make him suffer. It was at this moment that I realized how much Sally meant to me. I'd really only payed attention to Veronica to make her jealous. To make her feel like I did when I saw her with Zanien.

I think I may... love her. Yes, I think I do. Hah, me! Lightning McQueen! Guys like me don't usually fall in love. Well.. not usually with only one girl. Guess you don't really think about what you have until it's gone.

I was seconds away from racing out to attack when I heard a strange sobbing sound. Is Zanien.. crying? I looked over to tell him to calm down, only to see him looking at me in the same way. Our eyes went wide before snapping them over to the barn. Sally!

"Sally!" My voice cracked. I doubted she could hear me over the roar of Deven's engine. He was here. To hurt her. Before I knew it, I was slamming into his side, startling him.

"What the-" He managed to get out before Zanien slammed into his other side, knocking him unconscious.

_Sally;;_

I jumped as I heard a collision outside.

"What the-?" Was heard before another impact.

"Go get Sheriff! And Doc!!" Wait.. I knew that voice... Lightning! I rammed into the barn doors, ignoring the pain that washed over me. I blacked out.

-vvvvvv-

_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._

I felt like I'd just been hit by a train. I heard voices murmuring, but I couldn't see anything. I tried lifting my eyelids, but I just couldn't.

"Did you know about this Deven guy?"

"No, Doc, nobody did. Well, nobody but Zannen and that other guy"

_Lightning!_ Hearing his voice was motivation enough to pry my eyelids open.

"It's Zanien" My voice was raspy and tired.

"Sally!" Lightning rushed over to my side. Doc rolled up beside him.

"Ya' feelin' okay?"

_Yes, Doc, I feel great. Maybe I'll go do a few laps around town with Bessie tied to my bumper!_

"Uh.. bad..." Lightning noticed the attitude in my voice and gave a slight smirk.

"Well you didn't have any major injuries. We fixed the dents. You're just going to be sore for awhile."

"Can I leave?"

Lightning spoke up, "Not without explaining." _I guess this is it..._

"Well.. um.. okay. I didn't grow up in Beverly Hills. My parents weren't successful lawyers. Heck, they were never even around. I was pretty much raised by my older brother. He was into.. um.. street racing." I saw Lightning narrow his brow. He hated street racing, "and I'd always go to the races with him. Before long, I was racing too. I was the only female. The only Porsche too. I went by Indigone. Soon after, my brother was killed in a gang fight. Zanien and Selmer assumed the position as my guardians. A couple years after that, I realized that I was going nowhere in life. I didn't want to end up like my brother. So, I got a job, payed my way through law school, and somehow ended up here."

Lightning was the first to speak, "Wow.. I would've.. never guessed."

Selmer and Zanien then came into the room.

"Gosh, Sally, we's thought you was dead!"

_Uh, thanks?_

"But we're glad you're not," Zanien gave Selmer a look. They told me about Veronica being a spy for Deven. And that Deven was going to serve life in a prison in New York. That was a relief. They also said that they were going to head home. They were still in the racing business and couldn't be away forever.

"Can I come visit you?"

"Of course, doll. Anytime" He gave me a kiss on the hood as he and Selmer left.

I was visited next by Flo, Lizzie, and Ramone. Flo went into overdrive when she found out about my street-racing days. Ramone thought it was pretty cool. Lizzie was trying to make conversation with the car in the next space over. Who happened to be in a coma. Fifteen minutes after they left, Sheriff and Mater came in. Followed by Luigi and Guido. Even Fillmore came... and offered me some 'Hippy-Juice'.

A few minutes after they left, Doc and Lightning came back in.

"Alright, well you're free to go whenever." Doc told me, before giving Lightning a nod and rolling out of the room.

"Hey. I was really worried about you..." He kept his eyes on the ground.

_Was he actually... shy?! Wow. _

"Really?"

"Yeah. You have no idea. Look.. Sal.. I really care about you. A lot."

I rolled foward and kissed him. When I broke it off, he smiled. "I'll meet you outside"

_Oh yes you will._

I smiled back.

* * *

_**Panophobia- fear of everything**_


End file.
